Patricia Leyendecker An LCG veteran and longtime Department of Community Development employee has been chosen to head the department. City-Parish President Joey Durel's office announced that Patricia Leyendecker has been pegged to replace Ben Berthelot, who resigned in June to take the top job at the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission.
Leyendecker began her career with the city of Lafayette in 1988. During her first stint at LCG, she worked as a community development block grant program specialist and was promoted to intergovernmental relations and economic development manager. During that time, she completed the National Development Council's Economic Development Finance Professional series and is a graduate of Leadership Lafayette VI. In 1991, she became a Distinguished Fellow of the Governmental Leadership Institute of UNO.
Leyendecker is a graduate of UL Lafayette and also holds a master's degree in urban and regional planning from UNO. She returned to Lafayette (from Texas) to assume the role of housing and federal programs manager in Community Development Department in 2010. She is currently in the Leadership Louisiana Class of 2012.
"Patricia comes to this position highly recommended by her predecessor," Durel said in announcing the promotion. "Her experience and excellent work over the years with Lafayette Consolidated Government made her a logical fit for this position. The Community Development Department's work is very diverse, and Patricia has demonstrated in her role as interim director that she has an understanding of the range of issues the department faces. I am excited to work more closely with her and know she will do an excellent job leading the department."